Bhubaneswar, Oct. 12: With the possibility of a green belt around Nandankanan Biological Park fading, green activists have suggested that construction of buildings on the park’s periphery should be allowed in keeping with the concepts of eco-engineering.

The park, perhaps the only zoo with natural surroundings in the entire country, is a continuous patch of forest linked to the adjacent Chandaka Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary. Nandankanan is a major tourist attraction in Bhubaneswar. It is the first zoo in India to become a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquarium.

With the ban on real estate development within 1-km radius of the zoo being lifted, green activists who worried about the serenity of the surroundings, demand the housing complexes that do come up in the area should be built following ethnic architecture and be in sync with the green surroundings. “Though the ban has been lifted within 1-km radius of the sanctuary, the housing and urban development department and the revenue department have issued notifications on high-rise structures. The restrictions should be strictly followed and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) must ensure that only residential one or two-storeyed structures with village-like settings and traditional design concepts be allowed near the park,” said activist S.N. Patro, who is also founder of the Orissa Environmental Society.

“Multi-storeyed buildings, hotels, malls and light-emitting and sound-producing structures should not be allowed, as they will disturb the animals housed in nearly 105 enclosures of which 50 are open-moat enclosures. The zoo now houses nearly 1,600 animals spread over an area of 4.37 sqkm,” Patro said.

Issuing a notification by the authorities concerned cannot serve the purpose, as they have to ensure that the people building the structures follow the green building concept, which codifies how a structure is planned. “Buildings near eco-tourism complexes in the state are following such rules and these norms can be included in the general building guidelines of the BDA,” the environmentalist added.

Swapna Dutta, a city-based architect, said architectural norms prescribe not go for construction near a restricted forest area. “As demand for housing has grown, we can allow it. But the buildings should be built on traditional lines, so that they blend with the surroundings. Choice of building materials, design of the waterworks and other aspects of the architectural plan are codified for this kind of surrounding and the authorities should keep an eye on these details,” she said.